Jam Campaign

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Arthedain Hollin

Our Captain, the Duke

Description:

Bio:

Arthedain kept his true lineage hidden from the party until they arrived in the Southlands. He is the son of Duke Arronal Hollin, ruler of the Free City of Tantalus, and heir to the ducal seat. Arthedain had no desire to take the throne, and tried to escape his destiny, first through hedonistic revelry, then by simply leaving and going on walkabout. He joined a mercenary company, but had a bad experience when he was captured by a band of goblin raiders, and still bears a hatred for all goblinoids. He left to form his own mercenary company, and was soon joined by Ice, Fox, Dawn, and Arthur. He did not know that Ice was working with Duke Arronal to keep an eye on him.

Arthedain would be handsome if his features did not show the wear and tear of his drug addiction and lechery. He is still charismatic, and has a streak of nobility at his core, though he flatly refuses to admit or recognize it. Somehow, despite all his vices and faults, he has emerged as the leader of this ragtag band of mercenaries.

He has returned to his homeland at the behest of his father, though he was not exactly thrilled to be returning home. Only word that his mother was gravely ill convinced him to return.

Arthedain has come to value his companions more than he ever did his family (except perhaps his mother). He regards Faenthar as the only suitable replacement for Lyr as Archmage of the Southlands, and has a deep respect for his magic and knowledge, and knows that he has not yet peaked. He is the brain in this war, its reason.
In a world where everything else is a variable, Fox is Arthedain’s constant. He always knows what to expect from her, and he is more appreciative of that than she would probably ever know. Arthedain has more than once rushed into a battle only to find most of his enemies already felled by Fox’s arrows. He hopes one day she will accept the position of general commander of the Tantalus militia. Fox is the legs of the group, tracking and guiding.
But if he had to choose only one of his allies to go into war with, it would be Gelmyr Al’antar. Not only do their styles mesh well together, he is the most versatile and well-rounded of the group, both on and off the field. If Fox is his general, and Ice his magus, then Gelmyr would be his champion, and the arms of the war.
Dawn, though, is the ultimate power in the group, and if only Arthedain could figure out how to utilize her energy without killing or invoking her, then he surely would do so. She is the cause for much of the strife both before the party arrived in Tantalus and after. But perhaps because of this, Arthedain is the most protective of Dawn, and he has a very tender spot for her in his heart. And as such, the heart of the war and Tantalus.
Arthedain knows that he is actually the least remarkable of the group, and if it were not for his birthright he would probably be just another soldier or mercenary scout. He once told Lyr this before the mage’s abduction and death, and this was Lyr’s response: “Perhaps so, but sometimes it is not a gift martial, divine, or arcane. Perhaps it is not an innate talent for a magick that makes the man, but the ordinary traits that make him extraordinary.” Elaborating on Lyr’s point, Arthedain possesses both the most dynamic virtues and the deepest flaws of the party. Most likely, the very reason he is leader of such an epically-destined group of individuals is that he is in fact the most fallible, and the most humanistic. His companions were born into greatness or achieved greatness, Arthedain literally had ‘greatness’ thrust upon him. Arthedain is the stomach of this party and war.